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MOVE TO AMEND SANTA CLARA COUNTY IS GATHERING SIGNATURES FOR BUILD DEMOCRACY AND END CORPORATE RULE (BDECR)

BDECR asks county voters to approve the 28th-Amendment language (below) which specifies that Constitutional Rights are granted to human beings, not corporations; and Money is not equivalent to Speech. The initiative also establishes a “DEMOCRACY DAY” with the goal of REVERSING the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

Project Description:

Activists work in Santa Clara County, gathering 75,000 signatures before May 15, 2014, to place this initiative on the November 2014 ballot:

1. Support for the Move to Amend 28th Amendment:

Corporations Are Not People

Money Is Not Speech:

"(i) Only human beings, not corporations, are legal persons with constitutional rights, and (ii) Money is not equivalent to speech, and therefore regulating political contributions and spending is not equivalent to limiting political speech."

2. Democracy Day: A Santa Clara County Democracy Day will take place each April beginning in 2015 to discuss the impacts of corporate constitutional rights, money as speech, and the financing of political campaigns.

Join us as we watch Robert Reich's award-winning film, "Inequality for All" at Watch Parties happening in communities across America. Secretary Reich will also join us for a special conference call to change the conversation on income inequality.

Directions: The UFCW Hall is on the east side (same as San Jose Fairmont Hotel) of Plaza de Cesar Chavez. You can take VTA light rail to the San Antonio stop and take the walkway west to Market Street, then turn left and UFCW is on your left. If you take the VTA 23 bus, get off at First and Paseo de San Antonio and follow the same directions. Parking is available (parking rates apply) in the lot adjacent to UFCW. MAP: https://goo.gl/maps/Mrnt8

We begin at 6:00 p.m. with a national conference call hosted by Robert Reich; we will watch Robert Reich's award-winning film "Inequality for All"; then conduct a discussion and fun, group exercise; and will go forward to bring Justice, Liberty and Equality to All!

Please join us on Tuesday nights, 7:00 - 8:00 P.M. in our San Jose Headquarters for training. We're located at 2175 The Alameda, San Jose, CA 95126. Please email initiative@bdecr.org to sign up or for more details.

Each contribution of $30 buys an advance ticket -- $35 at the door. Click here to purchase tickets and/or contribute to our cause. We also greatly appreciate donations to augment your ticket purchase, so please make use of the additional amount choices.

On the other hand, if you are passionate about our cause and want to help us collect signatures, but can't afford the ticket, we still want you there! So please let us know at initiative@bdecr.org.

After an inspiring kickoff last weekend, we are ratcheting our signature gathering effort into high gear and we need your help. Please come join our committed volunteers this weekend to help us put the BDECR initiative on the Santa Clara County ballot this November. To get there, we need to collect 52,000 valid, verified signatures by May 15th.

You can make a significant contribution to this effort: come to our office in San Jose this weekend or the Peninsula Peace and Justice Center during the week, get trained on the specifics of this activity, and go out for an hour or two (or more) and collect signatures on our petitions. We look forward to seeing you soon!

You'll hear from us soon about an expanded signature gathering schedule, and opportunities to help further by joining our phone banking efforts. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know either by email (initiative@bdecr.org) or phone (408-459-8549).

Why are approval ratings for Congress, at just 9%, at the lowest levels ever recorded? Why does a plurality of Americans believe that most members of Congress are corrupt?

This is a truly universal issue that unites us all.

Today, rather than representing We the People, Congress represents a few dozen large multi-national corporations that influence and control our legislators by spending unlimited corporate funds to help their political candidates win elections.

We the People need to correct this.

Our goal is to fix this problem by passing a 28th amendment to the Constitution that will require Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court to once again represent We the People.

We have started the process to put an initiative on the November, 2014 Santa Clara County ballot that will allow the voters of our county to voice their strong support for this 28th amendment.